Chapter Volume 9 Endless Days, The End NO.6: Family Head (2/2)
I sat up at the edge of the bed. The hunger had not chased away all my processing ability. It appeared that my condition had indeed taken a turn for the better.
The door opened, and I shifted my line of sight. Dong Fang Lei was holding a tray of blood bags with Curtis standing right behind him. When they saw me, the two were dumbstruck for a moment, but then showed expressions of pleasant surprise.
Curtis even passed in front of Dong Fang Lei to walk straight to my bedside. He excitedly said, “Family Head, you appear significantly better.”
The young master just said I looked terrible, to the point where even Briar could easily kill me. So in the past few days, exactly how terrible had I looked for Curtis to say that my condition has improved?
Fortunately, I was not a butler during this time. Otherwise, I would have to deeply repent to my honorable father.
Dong Fang Lei was full of smiles as he placed the tray down on my bed and then retreated to the side. Compared to his initial politeness and disaffection, he was currently filled with goodwill and respect, which was extremely difficult to grow accustomed to.
I picked up a blood bag and did not suck it dry in a single breath. Rather, I slowly sipped it to make the hunger subside more slowly.
Curtis directly sat at the edge of my bed and said, “Can you listen to my report as you drink blood?”
I nodded.
“The Sun Emperor and I have reached an agreement. I witnessed him personally order Ri Xiang Ye not to kill you, so I have released your young master.”
“I know, the young master came by.”
Curtis’s expression shifted, and he twisted his head to glare furiously at Dong Fang Lei. The latter’s face fell too.
I voiced my support, “Don’t blame him. The young master is not a normal person.”
“Family Head, no one who is able to threaten the heads of the Elysees is a normal person!”
That makes sense. Thinking about it now, Lieder was able to smack the Sun Emperor on the head; how can that count as normal?
Curtis coldly stated, “Dong Fang, there cannot be a second time! You will await punishment later!”
“Yessir!”
Upon hearing this, I saw that Dong Fang Lei did not show any discontent, seemingly only full of shame instead. As a result, I did not try to stop it again. Operations within the family had to follow certain standards. While the young master breaking in to meet me this time was nothing major, what if an assassin broke into Curtis’s room?
Curtis took a few deep breaths to calm down before continuing his report. “The Sun Emperor and the Church have both agreed to provide compensation. This payment has been directly transferred to your personal assets. There is no need to receive it from the family’s trust funds management.”
I stared at Curtis in astonishment.
Curtis indifferently stated, “One party sent someone to kill you, the other party imprisoned you. Receiving compensation is already the minimum I can accept. It cannot be any less!”
No, the main point is, you managed to make the Sun Emperor and the Church pay money?
Curtis continued to coolly explain, “I have previously explained that because you have given support to many rising companies, the Elysees has a large number of business relations. This is still true today. I have many methods to legally make them pay an even greater amount as compensation! In reality, this matter had been in progress long before we attacked the Church’s Sin Elimination Committee. Their compensation is merely a stop-loss point.”
I did not have much interest in financial matters and was unwilling to waste the time that I remained clear-headed on this point. I reminded him, “These are all fine with you managing them. Is there anything else?”
Curtis hesitated.
I suddenly felt an uneasy premonition and hurriedly questioned, “What is wrong? Did something happen?”
“Can you promise me that no matter what has happened, you will not leave without permission?”
“I cannot!” I furiously answered. “If you do not speak, I will leave right this instant. Moreover, you will not even be able to tell whether I exit from the window or the door.”
Curtis was stunned for a moment. He looked towards Dong Fang Lei for confirmation, and the latter nodded.
He sighed and said, “The Church has captured E.X.”
I stared at him in a daze. Fear began to rise from the bottom of my heart; the last thing that I had wanted to happen had inevitably occurred in the end.
“When did this happen?”
I asked with difficulty, only hoping that this had happened not too long ago.
“The news was provided two days ago, but I cannot confirm when. I can only confirm that E.X. currently is indeed in their hands.”
It has already been two days! My heart clenched in pain. With how much the Church detested X, two days was enough to torture him until he was disfigured. However, the most important thing now was to calm down!
I took a deep breath and asked, “Did you look into what they want to do with X?”
Curtis nodded and replied, “The Sin Elimination Committee wants to kill him as quickly as possible. If it were not for a few researchers stopping them, he likely would have been eliminated on the spot.”
“They dare?!” I roared.
“I fear they truly do dare. I sent a warning, but they did not even send a response. It appears that with the extremist faction leading, they will not shrink back from any enemy when it comes to E.X. Therefore I require your orders to determine the next plan of action.”
“Naturally, that is…” To rescue X.
Before I could finish speaking, I saw Curtis’s earnest expression and my words fell silent. He was clearly just waiting for the family head to give him the command to actually carry out. Even if this order was for the sake of a vampire completely unaffiliated with the family, he would dispatch troops to fight head-on with an evenly matched opponent. Another several hundred, several thousand, or even several hundreds of thousands of elites from the family would die. Or perhaps, an unbreakable enmity would form as a result. There was no knowing how many more lives would be forfeited afterwards.
How could I voice this command? In the end, I can only go by myself after all…
Curtis frigidly declared, “Family Head, please allow me to clarify: I will not allow you to carry out a rescue mission by yourself. You have the entire family’s forces as support. The last action you should take is to act alone.”
I shook my head. “This matter has no relation to the Elysees.”
“It is related to you, and therefore it is related to the Elysees! Even if you needed to start a war, the Elysees would never fear it!”
At the mention of the previous campaign, I recalled the family members lying on the battlefield and I could not suppress my anger as I roared, “Never fear it? How many family members died in the fight against the Church?”
“One hundred and eighty-two people.”
I was dumbstruck. It was evident that Curtis was not actually unaffected by those lives if he remembered the number so clearly.
“Were they all Extraordinaries?”
Curtis shook his head. “No, the majority of them were not. This type of battle does not require Extraordinaries. Equipment is more important.”
“Were they the family’s elites?”
Curtis was silent for a while before answering, “They were the elite troops.”
“Was it worth it?”
Curtis indignantly responded, “They were soldiers. The Elysees raised them as important members to protect the family. Now they have died for the sake of the family head. Do you think it was worth it?”
I only grew angrier as I shot back. “If the Elysees family head you are speaking of referred to yourself, then it would be worth it. However, I am merely the family head in name only.”
Curtis’s complexion turned ashen. He gazed at me in fury and forcefully emphasized every one of his words. “‘Family Head,’ please allow me to remind you once again: Charles Endelis is the true head of the Elysees family. If you have any doubts about this point, please immediately return and personally take charge of the family. I can become your general manager and assist you with handling the family’s affairs, or you can simply expel me and choose someone you prefer to be your manager!”
He was serious; I could tell. Even if I used my speed to escape this place and rescue X alone, it would likely take only a second for Curtis to gather the family’s army and enter the battlefield once more.
Thus, the current question was now who was more important between X and the Elysees.
I had no way of scoring people in my mind as the young master did. It was impossible to know the answer. I…Wait.
Charles, if both X and I are in mortal danger, who would you save?
What if it were X and the Elysees?
I will make up for it.
I suddenly understood and could not help but murmur, “He had also heard this news, and he is about to go rescue X!”
Curtis stared at me in confusion and asked, “Who?”
“Young Master!”
I had known long ago that the young master was not someone who would ask meaningless questions. There was a concrete purpose to everything he did. If he had numbers assigned to score people’s significance levels, how could he possibly ask a question as pointless as “who would you save if your mother and wife fell into the water”?!
If X and I are in mortal danger, who would you save?
If I had responded “Young Master,” he would not have gone to rescue X, because he was more important.
What if it were X and the Elysees?
If I had responded “X,” he also would not have gone to rescue X, because the Elysees family would do it.
However, I had refused to give him a single answer!
“Family Head, are you all right?”
I could not continue staying in bed any longer. I took a deep breath and directly set foot off the bed. A wave of pain immediately came from my knees, and my legs could barely stay upright. However, I eventually stabilized myself. My condition had undoubtedly improved, though moving freely would require a while. Moreover, I needed my condition to be better than being able to simply “move freely.”
I picked up the blood bags on the tray and began to consume them.
“Family Head!” Curtis stubbornly declared, “I will never allow you to abandon the family’s resources and run off to clash with the Church on your own. You are the family head! You should not be the one charging in at the very front!”
Resources… Ah yes, the Elysees are more than one individual person.
As I drank blood, I asked, “Curtis, how much money do you have?”
Curtis was taken aback for a moment, but he inquired back, “Are you referring to my money, or are you actually referring to your money?”
“…My money.”
“It may require at least three days’ time to verify all of your cash, movable and immovable properties, company equity shares, foundations, patent rights, creditor’s rights, and the like. There are a few property rights that are very difficult to accurately appraise as they have not yet officially been sold.”
“These should be the Elysees family’s resources, are they not?” I furrowed my brows and stated, “I do not wish to touch the family’s assets.”
Curtis’s brows knit together even more deeply than my own as he continued, “With just your personal assets, I would still require a day to verify them all.”
This response indicated that the amount of money in my possession was vast enough for even Curtis to be uncertain of its size. Rather, I am personally uncertain; when did I suddenly become so wealthy? My only assets, as far as I was aware, were several ancient castles, as well as a few bank accounts. Perhaps I had some private treasuries as well, but since Sadina had specialized managers handling them, I never paid any attention to them.
If I survive this, I should find some time to look into those places. I hope Sadina did not leave the family in debt to make up for my allowance.
“Hand your cell phone to me.”
Curtis stared blankly for a moment. However, it appeared that he would comply with anything as long as I did not flee, as he directly handed his cell phone to me.
I dialed a number and immediately cut to the main point. “Aren, this is Charles. Is Lieder beside you? I would like to speak with him.”
The other end gave an affirmative response, and another person answered the phone.
“Lieder, how much money are you and your doctor worth?”